Pre K and Kinder—Supplies + Curriculum
PreK
Pre- K is research proven as a predictor for High School completion. Who knew, right? Well as homeschoolers, we have a pretty wide range of what pre-k means. Most parents will recommend lots of play time and reading aloud. We recommend the same! Below we share some resources that are inspirational for homeschool, but not critically needed.
In case you’re wondering, here are the Texas state guidelines for Pre-k in English and Spanish. Here’s a basic breakdown of skills they require in public Pre-K:
Movement (Fine and Gross Motor), self-expression, and speech — skills they develop at home naturally!
Emerging writing - free drawing and writing at first
Phonemic Awareness - mostly introduced by reading aloud, recognition of letter sounds anticipated by end of Pre-k4
Counting awareness - knowing objects can be counted, and counting 1-30 and recognizing numerals 1-9 by end of year Pre-k4
Additional studies - Texas includes these as mandatory in the TEKS and we recommend them based on what works for your family: science projects, art projects, and music!
After seeing that breakdown, we hope you see that a lot of this is already accomplished in a home setting and that you can easily spend a little time daily with your child working on whatever you feel they need to learn, formally or informally.
Sorting Activities - you can use home items for this, child’s toys, or purchase counting blocks that can be used down the road in elementary math.
Games - Many games can be played using home items. Some games will be familiar (duck duck goose) and believe it or not, you could also use board games. Haba Games are a smash hit at Julia’s house, and Orchard is a very pre-k friendly and fun game for kids and adults. Lindsay’s kids loved The Ladybug game.
Alphabet Magnets - these have tons of applications and can be used on cookie sheets, the refrigerator, and more. This set has the advantage of having vowels and consonants in different colors. The Leapfrog fridge set is also a nice one to have. You can find simple magnet sets at the Target dollar spot sometimes too!
Read alouds - We asked our team to share some of their favorite read alouds for the pre-k age.
Lindsay - Shel Silverstein Poetry Books. Folktales from around the world (the El Paso library has an excellent selection). A Year Full of Stories is a great addition to morning reading time. I also use the reference book Give Your Child the World to find some excellent books for all ages.
Julia - All my kids have loved Goodnight Gorilla, which is such a sweet book. Some more books we have loved are the BabyLit series , Mini Masters, and counting with Wayne Thiebaud. My older kids are reading through the Little House Series aloud, which my Pre-k and kinder children have enjoyed as well.
Playdough, paint, and parent-directed projects!
Curriculum Resources:
Books for Homeschooling Pre-K: We recommend books as guides. We won’t recommend special workbooks, as this age doesn’t need workbooks unless the parent so chooses.
Before 5 in a Row is designed specifically for kids 2-4 and is rich in great books and wonderful activities to leap start your homeschooling years. Five in a Row Volume 1 and Volume 2 is designed for early elementary and is also based on really great classic picture books. It can be used as a complete curriculum or as a supplement.
Starfall.com - Free website, with motion songs, abc sound practice, reading and more!
Phonics Pathways - a straightforward phonics guide which helps teach your child to phonics - and then to read, with fun and simple activities to get your children reading CVC (conosonant-vowel-consonant) words.
Kinder
Kindergarten in the state of Texas is not mandatory. That being said it’s still in the early years that are crucial to success later in life. A detailed PDF of Kinder skills can be found here. but most agree that kinder is a great time to work on some basics while still allowing for a lot of creative and imaginative play.
Kinder should continue to build on Pre-Kinder skills, and hopefully keep using the same supplies!
Movement (Fine and Gross Motor), self-expression, and speech — these all continue, and you can add scissor skills and glue as a more independent activity!
Writing - handwriting becomes a little more dialed in at this age.
Phonemic Awareness - Letter recognition and sounds become more important at this age, along with developing understanding of sentences, and distinguishing capital and lower case letters, sort things into categories within a book.
Counting awareness - Counting skills become more complex, with children recognizing and manipulating numbers 1-20, counting backwards, and potentially beginning to add numbers, understand story problems, and count by tens for instance.
Additional studies (same as Pre-K) - Texas includes these as mandatory in the TEKS and we recommend them based on what works for your family: science projects, art projects, and music!
Kinder may or may not include curriculum, depending on the parents’ preferences. To give you a peek at what we offer in membership, we’re offering these Pre-k/Kinder planning pages which you can downloads will be available soon. We will be rolling out similar planning guides for grade levels 1-12 in our membership between now and the end of the 2020-2021 School year.
Curriculum Resources:
Books for Homeschooling Kinder: Below are some of the commonly recommended curriculums that our team uses and those in our community use.
Before 5 in a Row is designedFive in a Row Volume 1 and Volume 2 is designed for early elementary and is also based on really great classic picture books. It can be used as a complete curriculum or as a supplement.
All About Reading is a phonics instruction program that is great for all learners. (All About Spelling pairs with it, but is recommended to begin after level 1 of reading is complete.)
Story of the World is a history book that is in four volumes and is told in story format.
Math runs the gamut, but our team members have really enjoyed Mathematical Reasoning, Math U See, Abeka Math, and Teaching Textbooks.
Science is most often accomplished through interest led learning or nature studies. Nature walks and great books from the library are great resources in place of buying a complete curriculum.
In our membership we have a complete curriculum guide for Elementary, Middle, and High School. Join today to gain membership benefits.
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